Gone With The Wind: Chapter 24

Summary:
Scarlett awakens in the wagon the next morning and recalls the trials and tribulations of the previous evening after Rhett abandoned them.  For a moment, she fears that Melanie has died in the night but then sees her breathing.  Looking around them, she recognizes the Mallory place though it has been burned to the ground by the Yankees.  As they travel along the road to Tara, they discover all of their neighbor's homes have met the same fate and Scarlett starts to worry that Tara has also been a victim of the war.  A cow is found along the way and it seems that at least they've had some small luck on this fool's errand.

Scarlett, Prissy, Wade, Melanie and her baby all arrive at Tara to discover that while the building still stands, the heart is gone out of Tara.  Ellen, who'd been sick with Typhoid, had died the previous day leaving Mr. O'Hara lost in his grief.  The news comes as a shock and Scarlett almost loses her composure, but pushes aside her own grief to take care of the remaining family.  After taking stock of the remaining assets at Tara, she learns what has taken place in her absence.  While the Yankees are responsible for the destruction of the fields and their livelihood, they are also responsible for the survival of her sisters and her childhood home as the Yankees used Tara for their headquarters when they learned the residents were too ill to be moved.

She immediately takes charge in the absence of Ellen's leadership and makes sure everyone has something to eat and her father has some whisky.  She has a little herself, to calm her nerves, and proceeds to get drunk as she goes through the house.  Scarlett checks in on her sisters and catches up with Dilcey and Mammy.  Mammy explains how Ellen and the girls became sick, but it's Dilcey who reveals Ellen's final words: "Philippe."  Faced with daunting circumstances, Scarlett begins to make plans to break up the family and send her sisters to live with her mother's family but realizes that it would be admitting defeat.  O'Hara's never surrender and Scarlett will not be the first.  Her doubts and fears start to creep in, but she forces them all away saying she will think of it "tomorrow" and then proceeds to pass out.

Katiebug's Response:
We're beginning to see Scarlett's pattern of not dealing with things that bother her.  It seems to be how she can cope in the face of all this devastation.  She knows that she should mourn her mother, but there are so many people relying on her to be strong that she pushes it down.  Falling apart is not going to help anyone survive.  I have a feeling that this is going to come back to bite her eventually.  Though with this much calamity the only way she might be able to get through it is to be completely numb.

I think it's interesting how she steps right in to fill the head of household role.  Her father isn't capable in his grief and her sisters are still unconscious upstairs.  A few loyal servants have stayed with the family to nurse them through and Scarlett is maybe too gruff with them in her misplaced anger.  She'd been thinking that Tara would be her safe haven and has discovered it will be just as difficult as things were in Atlanta.  While hard work is not in her nature, I think she will excel at the challenges this new world presents.

I also think it's sad that Ellen's last words were for her long lost lover and that Gerald has lost his mind with grief at her death.  They had a partnership that worked but her heart always belonged to another.  I begin to wonder if a similar fate will befall Scarlett.

Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman




Image from Amazon.com

  My boyfriend suggested the Dragonlance Chronicles, by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, as an interesting read.  I was hesitant to start this series as I have been burned by similar suggestions from former boyfriends.  However, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised and plan to willingly continue the series.

I knew that the series was based on the Dungeons & Dragons Role-Playing Game and I was wary of how this would translate into a novel.  (I had read a few books based on a similar Vampire RPG and found it repetitive and dry.)  There were a few things that were clearly game based, i.e. the mage's limitations when it came to spell casting, but they weren't so glaringly obvious that I would have noticed if I hadn't been looking for them.

The descriptions of setting were my favorite part of this book.  The authors didn't get lost in them, à la Tolkien, but they certainly painted a vivid picture.  The beginning description of the town of Solace and the Valenwood Forest was so crisp I felt as if I could actually go there to see these massive giants and the town nestled within the branches.  Xak Tsaroth's description makes me feel like I am at the base of Niagra Falls once more, but with an aging city all around me.  Beautiful detail that envelopes the reader and engages the imagination.

The development of characters is a little predictable at times, but no less interesting.  The complicated back stories of Tanis Half-Elven and Raistlin Majere are enticing enough that I want to read more of the series and unravel the mysteries surrounding them.  These two characters, as well, are interesting in their decisions and motivations throughout the novel.  Some of the minor characters in this first book are two dimensional but I hope they are further developed in later novels.

Definitely a book I would recommend to anyone looking for a new fantasy series to read.

February Reading List

January had me unsuccessful in cleaning out the book queue.  I started reading a series that was recommended to me by my boyfriend, so that has taken precedence. To recap, here are the books I have carried over from last year:
The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter by Russell T. Davies & Benjamin Cook (11/14/10) - Started 11/15/10
Changeless by Gail Carriger (10/16/10) - Started 10/24/10
Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas (6/01/10) -Started
A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin (08/01/10) - Started 10/25/10

Here are the new ones I added in January:

Dragonland Chronicles, Volume I: Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach

Now I just need to stick to it and finish these before heading off-plan again.

"Do As I Say..." Webseries

Okay this is not exactly a book and I am changing the point of my blog to write about this.  But, my sister's high school friend, Andrea Schwartz, and her friend, Kim Kalish, are finished the pre-production on their web-series, "Do As I Say..."  Andrea started talking about it at Cinco de Mayo last year and it sounded really interesting.  Three friends, one of them pregnant with their first child, looking back on their early twenties and deciding to do a video advice gift for the baby.  I'm not sure if that is still the premise, but it's still about ladies in their twenties navigating their way through life, love, and professions in New York City.

One of my favorite parts about their website is their profile description

Kim and Andrea met in college where they majored in Theatre with a minor in Unemployment. In New York, they studied improv and sketch comedy with Upright Citizen's Brigade. They spend most of their time watching cat videos on Youtube.

They are lined up with a professional director, camera crew, lights, etc. so I can't wait to see the finished product.  I am very, very excited for them.  I know it's something on which Andrea has worked very hard and I love it when people see their labors rewarded.  It makes me feel like there is some sort of balance to the universe, or a legitimate reason to try for difficult goals.  Even if they don't fully succeed in this endeavor, for some unknown reason, the experience will be invaluable.  If only to know that you tried to reach that. unreachable. star.....wait this is sounding familiar.

I just really want them to succeed, okay?  If I could take everything that is in my heart right now and turn it into felix felicis, I would.  I am so very proud of Andrea for everything that she is doing.  So please consider visiting their website and backing the development of their series.